On the origin of the Naiman

Abstract

The work is dedicated to the problem of the origin of the medieval Altai ethnos of Naimans, who were able to form an early feudal state in Altai in the 12th century. The scientific literature ascribed them the Turkic, Mongol or Turko-Mongol origin. The work studies the issue of the origin of the Naiman in the context of studying the etymology of the ethnonym Naiman. It offers a new hypothesis of the emergence of the ethnonym Naiman among historical terms, which could have been inherited or borrowed from the eight constituent alliance of Kangar-Pecheneg tribes. The paper examines possible ethnopolitical and ethnogenetic, as well as ethnocultural ties of the Naiman with the Az, the Kangar-Pecheneg, the Kuchuk, the Tumat, the Oguz, the Khitan and other Altaic tribes. Based on the study, analysis and comparison of the version of the epic Manas described in the book Madzhumu at-Tavarikh by S. Akhsikendi with later versions of the great legend, the author makes an attempt to define the role and place of Naimans in the history of the Kyrgyz people and epic at the Altai stage of their development.